Behind the Headlines: Two weeks in, how have the Stockley verdict protests evolved?

A file photo of protests in the wake of the aquittal of Jason Stockley, from Sept. 22, 2017.

File photo | Ryan Delaney | St. Louis Public Radio

On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, we went “Behind the Headlines” with updates from the second week of protests in response to the Jason Stockley acquittal.

Reporter Willis Ryder Arnold and Executive Editor Shula Neuman, from the St. Louis Public Radio newsroom, joined the program to help bring us up to speed.

Listen

Listening...

/

10:57

Into the second week of protests over the acquittal of Jason Stockley, we hear updates from St. Louis Public Radio Executive Editor Shula Neuman and Reporter Willis Ryder Arnold on "Behind the Headlines" on St. Louis on the Air.

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

Many white residents don’t support the protests. They can’t understand why demonstrators are pinning their protests to the not-guilty verdict for Jason Stockley, a white, former St. Louis police officer who shot and killed Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man, in 2011. Smith was 24.

Updated Sept. 27 with response from St. Louis officials — The City of St. Louis has asked the federal government to help with an independent investigation into two lawsuits and several complaints stemming from police response to protests that followed the acquittal of Jason Stockley, Mayor Lyda Krewson and interim Police Chief Larry O’Toole said Wednesday.

In a statement, the two said the investigation would focus on police conduct during the protests since the Sept. 15 decision, the dozen “grievances” filed with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division and the two federal lawsuits.

As the days of demonstrations over Jason Stockley’s acquittal go on, protesters in St. Louis are outlining the policy changes they say will help create a more equitable justice system and police department.

The main demands involve giving St. Louis and St. Louis County police additional training, equipment and oversight — things that were proposed after a Ferguson officer shot Michael Brown in 2014 but never enacted. That’s because most bills required changes to state law, and the GOP-controlled General Assembly didn’t go for it.

Police departments are standing by their officers’ response to protesters after days of civil disobedience throughout the St. Louis region.

Although three lawsuits have been filed against the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, officials are confident the majority of their officers complied with the department's use-of-force policy, which establishes guidelines, though one area law professor argues those guidelines are up for interpretation.